Category: Ballot measures
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Twelfth initiative qualified for California 2024 ballot: Measure to revise Children’s Services Program
An initiative to change California Children’s Services (CCS) Program eligibility requirements and authorize the program to cover the costs of life-saving specialty drugs qualified for the ballot on June 21. This marks the twelfth initiative to qualify this cycle, the highest number since 2016 when 15 initiatives were certified. The initiative is sponsored by the…
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Rhode Island enacts a readability requirement, an eighth-grade reading level, for ballot measure questions
In Rhode Island, a new law requires that ballot measure questions be written in plain language and reasonably calculated to be understood by those with an eighth-grade reading level. The bill was passed unanimously by the state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Daniel McKee (D) on June 4, 2024. Currently, five measures have…
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Arizona legislature refers 11 measures to the general election ballot, most on record since 1984
The Arizona State Legislature adjourned on June 15, 2024, and referred 11 measures to the ballot—five state statutes and six constitutional amendments. This is the most legislatively referred measures on the ballot since 1984, when 13 measures were on the ballot, and the third-highest year on record in the state. Some measures did not make…
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California Supreme Court removes initiative from Nov. ballot that would have increased vote thresholds for taxes
The California Supreme Court ruled on June 20 that the Taxpayer Protection Act (TPA), as supporters call it, cannot appear on the Nov. 5 ballot because its proposed changes to vote thresholds for new taxes amount to a revision of the state constitution, which cannot be enacted via a citizen initiative. Under the state constitution,…
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Abortion-related amendment restored to the ballot in NY, joining four other states where abortion is confirmed on the ballot—CO, FL, MD, and SD
Voters in 11 states could vote on abortion-related measures in Nov. 2024. Ballot measures are certified in five states—Colorado, Florida, Maryland, New York, and South Dakota. On June 18, a New York state appellate court restored the previously certified New York Equal Protection of Law Amendment to the ballot for Nov. 5, 2024. On May…
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Arizona voters to decide on measure regarding state agency rulemaking and costs in Nov. 2024
Voters in Arizona will decide on a ballot measure regarding state agency rulemaking if the new rule increases regulatory costs by a certain amount. The measure, Senate Concurrent Resolution 1012 (SCR 1012), was introduced to the Arizona State Senate on January 23, 2024. It passed the Senate on February 22, 2024, by a 16-13 vote,…
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Arizona voters to decide on an amendment providing for legal challenges to ballot initiatives before an election
Voters in Arizona will decide on a constitutional amendment regarding legal challenges to ballot initiatives on Nov. 5, 2024. The ballot measure, Senate Concurrent Resolution 1041 (SCR 1041), allows for the filing of a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a proposed citizen-initiated measure after it has been filed with the secretary of state and at…
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Voters in Arizona to decide ballot measure on changing minimum wage for tipped workers
Voters in Arizona will decide on a constitutional amendment to allow businesses to pay tipped employees 25% less per hour than the minimum wage. The amendment would allow for tipped workers to be paid 25% less per hour than the minimum wage if any tips received by the employee were not less than the minimum…
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California initiative that would make changes to Prop. 47, increasing drug and theft penalties, qualifies for the Nov. ballot
Californians for Safer Communities qualified an initiative for the Nov. 5, 2024, ballot that would make changes to Proposition 47, including increasing drug and theft penalties. The office of California Secretary of State Shirley Weber announced on June 11 that the campaign had submitted at least 652,100 valid signatures, exceeding the 546,651 signature threshold to…
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Update on 2024 state ballot measure certifications: Eight new measures in the past two weeks
For 2024, 118 statewide ballot measures have been certified for the ballot in 35 states, six more measures than the average (112) for this point in the election cycle from 2012 to 2022. The average number of statewide ballot measures certified for an even-numbered year during this period was 157. Here’s an update on the…